King attends opening of Princess Nora bint Abdulrahman University

May 16, 2011

The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz graced the opening ceremony of the Princess Nora bint Abdulrahman University [PNU] for Girls yesterday. Located 25 km [15.53 mi] east of Riyadh, the school was built at a cost of more than SR 20 billion [$5.33 billion]. PNU has the capacity to enroll 50,000 students, making it the largest women’s university in the world. It encompasses 15 colleges, a 700-bed hospital, research centers specializing in nanotechnology, information technology and bioscience, several laboratories, a conference hall, a library with 5 million books and journals, and 1,400 villas and other housing facilities.

The King boarded the university’s high tech elevated railway train for a survey of the grounds, which exceed 800 hectares [1,976.84 acres]. During the tour, Al-Assaf noted that the university’s facilities were built in an environmentally sensitive way and include waste treatment plants. According to a report published today by the Arab News, PNU has 40,000 square meters of solar paneling that will provide 16 percent of power for campus heating and 18 percent for air-conditioning.